The fall of Atlanta, Georgia was made possible through the skillful campaign of Union General William T. Sherman. Politically, Sherman’s victory boosted the North’s morale and it won President Lincoln a second term beating former Union general George McClellan who advocated a truce with the Confederacy. Sherman continued to wreak havoc during his campaign and it wore down the Confederacy. The Union was now energized and determined to win the war. As Sherman destroyed resources in the South, Grant pinned Lee in Petersburg. Morale in the Confederacy weakened as soldiers started to desert and eventually the South surrendered.